If you were already side-eyeing The Witcher after the Henry Cavill swap, this won’t calm you down. A director from the show just doubled down on how hard Cavill went for Geralt, which only makes the recast sting more. And yes, the behind-the-scenes details are wild.
Why Cavill still dominates the conversation
Marc Jobst, who directed on the series, once told ScreenRant that Cavill’s work ethic was on another level during his three-season run. The man didn’t just want to play Geralt; he wanted to be Geralt, down to the most granular inserts.
"Henry does every single beat of his stunts... if you’re doing a close-up of a hand grabbing a sword, it has to be his hand. He works out hours before and hours after you’ve been shooting for 12 hours, and he cares deeply about the work."
That tracks with everything we’ve heard and seen. The guy treated this like a marathon with armor.
He literally got hurt doing it
During Season 2, Cavill tore his hamstring sprinting through a forest on set. The crew had laid down fake snow, it was slick, and after a couple of takes and some downtime between adjustments, he pushed off, hit a piece of deadwood, and the leg went. He’s said the injury could’ve ended his career if things had gone a bit differently. He still came back. Because of course he did.
The exit that still stings
Cavill left after Season 3, with fans widely pointing to frustration over the show drifting from the books and game lore as a major factor. It wasn’t just a clean break either. He’d clearly bonded with the cast, and Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) has talked about how emotional that goodbye was. That’s part of why so many fans still see him as irreplaceable in this role.
So where does that leave Liam Hemsworth?
Hemsworth steps in as Geralt in Season 4, and the reaction to the early looks was not kind, with a lot of people calling his take bland. Some of that isn’t on him. He’s inheriting a character deep into the show’s arc, which means he can’t reinvent Geralt; he has to match Cavill’s version most of the time. On top of that, the series has increasingly shifted focus to Ciri and Yennefer, which leaves Geralt oddly sidelined in his own story. Less screen time plus less freedom equals less impact.
There’s also a style mismatch. Hemsworth is great when he can lean into clean, kinetic action energy. Geralt, as written here, is a brooding, slower-burn presence. That combo has, so far, worked against him more than it’s helped.
The essentials
- Series: The Witcher (Netflix)
- Seasons: 4
- Creator: Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Cast: Henry Cavill (Seasons 1–3), Liam Hemsworth, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan, Eamon Farren
- IMDb score: 7.9/10
- Streaming: Netflix
Can Hemsworth grow into it if the show actually gives him room? Sure. But if you were already convinced the Cavill swap was a downgrade, hearing how far he pushed himself on this thing is only going to cement that feeling.
Where are you at: cautiously optimistic for Hemsworth, or still mourning the Cavill era?